VAM Changes; Pay-For-Skills Workshop We've made a couple of changes, and we want to re-emphasize our PFS Workshop. VAM Changes First change: because of a flurry of other activities, we have reluctantly decided to cancel the February 1 Value Added Maintenance Workshop [VAM]. The next VAM will be held April 5. Second change: we have decided to begin charging a nominal fee of $25 per person for the VAM in the future. This is necessary to get a more accurate headcount. Since we had not been charging, we at times expected about 20 people, and as many as 46 showed up. This makes it impossible to plan effectively for seating and for lunch. We figure that this modest charge will indicate a commitment on the part of those who enroll. Pay-For-Skills Workshop - February 23 Please read this - we have something very important to say. Those receiving this newsletter are obviously interested in training for your maintenance personnel. At MPACT, we provide what many tell us is the best hands-on maintenance training they have ever seen. We don't, of course, disagree. Our primary goal is to enable you to reduce your maintenance costs. But there may be a missing link: the attitudes of the people you send. We all know about the horse you lead to water but cannot make drink. The best students we get are those with a thirst for knowledge. These are the ones who dig to learn as much as possible whenever they come. How can you develop that thirst in your employees? We find that the more classes a student attends, the more he or she realizes, "This is really good, not only for the company, but also for me personally!" But how do you get them past the first one or two classes, when some are not yet enthused? We feel that a Pay-For-Skills [PFS} program is your best bet. A PFS program, properly designed, is a win-win situation. The student is rewarded for competence, not just longevity. And the company is rewarded with students who have worked to learn - not just taken a vacation from the plant. So how do you properly design a PFS program? That's the purpose of this workshop. It is designed for a team from each plant participating, including the HR Manager, the Maintenance Manager, and the Plant Manager. [We focus on maintenance employees, but the principles apply for production personnel as well.] By sending a team, the critical parties will all be on the same page. [You're welcome to come without a team, but you will not get as much out of the workshop.] The deliverables include an understanding of the issues, such as, "Should we 'grandfather' existing employees?", and an action plan custom-tailored to your plant. A PFS program can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. Pete Little leads this workshop. Pete was on the three-person team that developed one of the most successful PFS programs ever, for Burlington Industries: it started in 1983, is still in place, and was the genesis of the MPACT Learning Center. At last count, 3,578 different Burlington employees participated: 18,121 class attendees. Approved Sponsor of Continuing Professional Competency credits for Professional Engineers and Registered Land Surveyors licensed by the State of North Carolina, and Provider of Related Instruction that meets the Approved Apprenticeship Program requirements of the North Carolina Department of Labor. MPACT Learning Center, LLC  The MPACT Adventage